Female Athletes are in the Spotlight, but not for their Athletic Talents

In the 1988 Olympics, Maria Patino was discriminated against after she was required to report to the femininity control head office in order to prove her femininity. She identified as a female, looked like a female and had female strength. Yet, all this changed when her examination results came back; she had a Y chromosome and it was believed that she had no uterus or ovaries. The International Olympic Committee declared her not to be a woman, she was banned from further competition, and her previous titles were overturned (Anna Fausto-Sterling, 2000).  More than 20 years later, this constant battle over femininity and gender norms is continuing. During the recent 2016 Olympics in Rio, Caster Semenya has continued to be discriminated and questioned about her identity. At one point during her athlete career, she experienced an examination by a panel of experts to determine her sex. She is forced to deal with name calling such as “hyperandrogenic” or “intersex” because of her naturally high levels of testosterone that can be found in some women.  Even though she just, “considers herself to be a women who runs”(1), she faces discrimination from others for “being too fast and too masculine by Western standards” (Webster, 2016).

Photo Credit: Chang W. Lee/ The New York Times (Longman, 2016)

Unfortunately, nothing has changed for elite female athletes. The International Olympic Committee has been policing the participation of women athletes in fear it would “turn them into manly creatures” (2) for decades (Fausto-Sterling, 2000). In 1912, the founder of the Olympic Games, Pierre De Coubertin, stated that, “womens sports are all against the law of nature”(3). Because of this, Olympic officials start to make competitors certify their femininity because true women could not compete in the Olympics. Now, instead of facing humiliation by standing naked in front of officials, females are forced to complete testosterone testing to justify their femininity (Fausto-Sterling, 2000, Longman, 2016).

 Photo Credit: Kristy Wigglesworth/ Associated Press (Block, 2015)

I am an athlete; I have been an athlete for my entire life. As a swimmer, occasionally I can lift more than guys and have I’ve been told I have man shoulders that don’t fit in girly dresses. I choose not to shave my legs for months at a time and have been told I my legs look like man legs. And yes, I have a large appetite and am constantly hungry. But does not make me any less feminine? I enjoy wearing makeup, dresses, and jewelry. Am I not allowed to be a competitive athlete and a female at the same time? It is stereotypical to believe that males are more masculine, stronger, and athletic and females are emotional and petite. While males are dominant, women are weak and fragile. However, when women do not fit into these predetermined boxes, why does it become the center of attention and becomes categorized as abnormal? Serena Williams continues to get criticized because of her unusual body mass. She has been called a man due to her masculine arms and broad shoulders yet it seems like some forget she has won 22 Grand Slam Titles with those arms and shoulders (Block, 2015).

Currently, one of the most talked about athletes in swimming is Katie Ledecky, who left Rio with 4 gold medals and one silver. However, regardless of her accomplishment, it seems like some people are more concerned with her gender than her ability. At only 19 years old, she has already beaten many male records and male Olympic qualifying times in the 800 and 1,500 Freestyle, leading to Charles Clymer tweeting in August, “Katie Ledecky swims like a man” (Crawford, 2016; Hersh, 2014). Why does society continue to compare all female athletes to males, the believed superior gender in all athletic completions? Katie Ledecky does not swim like a man; she swims like an athlete that works hard to be a successful and accomplish her goals.

 Photo Credit: Martin Burea/AFP/ Getty Imaged (Crawford, 2016)

I am proud to be an athlete and I am proud of all my accomplishments I have completed in pool. I enjoy racing my fellow male and female teammates in practice. I am love lifting weights and having broad swimmer shoulders. But when I changed out of my swim suit or workout clothes, something switches. Society has taught me to become more self-consciousness of my not so tiny arms and shoulders and the excessive amount of calories I consume because this is abnormal for females. The media portrays female athletes as different, teaching athletic girls to become more concerned and aware of different body imagines. There have been times when I wished I wasn’t a swimmer so I can fit into the strapless dresses without looking too masculine. But then I remember the excitement and pride I feel when I stand up on the blocks in my Allegheny Gators swim cap and suit. Instead of teaching girls to be ashamed of their athletic body and calling female athletes abnormal, society should change their standards and encourage women to be proud to be and look like an athlete. Being a collegiate swimmer requires me to be muscular, eat more than usual amounts of carbohydrates so I can practice 4 or more hours a day, and to stop shaving my legs until taper season in hopes of being better than the year before. In Webster's article, Caster Semenya says it perfectly, ”It’s not about being muscular. It’s about sports. You don’t think about how your opponents look. You just want to do better”(1).

                                                                                  

 Photo Credit: Allegheny Athletics 

Andrew Webster (2016) stated, “Semenya didn’t just win the gold medal in the women 800 metres final. She won for every person who has even been told they are different, they’re not normal, that they should be ashamed of who they are”(2). I will continue to go against the norms and be a female athlete in hopes of changing standards for future female athletes, will you?

 To read more about Caster Semenya, testosterone level testing, and other elite female athletes, click here. 

References

Block, J. (2015, July 13). This is what a women looks like. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from         http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/serena-williams-                  body_us_55a3d03be4b0a47ac15cd27d

Crawford, H. (2016, August 7). This one tweet about katie ledecky is the perfect feminist response to an infuriating claim. Bustle. Retrieved from http://www.bustle.com/articles/177319-this-one-               tweet-about-katie-ledecky-is-the-perfect-feminist-response-to-an-infuriating-claim

Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000). Sexing the body.  New York; NY: Basic Books.

Hersch, P. (2014, September 22). Man, oh man, Katie ledecky was fast. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-katie-ledecky-meets-mens-qualifying-standards-for-  2016-olympic-trials-20140922-story.html

Longman, J. (2016, August 18). Understanding the controversy over caster semenya. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/sports/caster-semenya-800-            meters.html?_r=0

Webster, A. (2016, August 21). Caster semenya has stirring words for her critics after winning women’s 800. The Sydney Morning Herald.